One of the most well known conquests of the all time is the conquest of Mexico by the Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortes. This is a puzzling conquest to historians because while the Spanish had the advantage of technology, it shouldn't matter when compared to the Aztec's superior numbers and home advantage. These factors should have allowed the Aztecs to surround Cortes's small force and soundly defeat them yet we know that this isn't what happened. The Spanish were the ones that actually prevailed and ended up the conquerors instead of the seemingly secure Aztec Empire. Since then we have been able to analyze the situation that allowed one man to lead a small expeditionary force on a campaign that would eventually topple an empire. As a result of this new perspective on the situation and information that is available, both native and Spanish, historians have been able to come up with several new definitive theories and ideals as to how Cortes was able to conquer the Aztecs and Mexico so easily due in no small part to Dona Maria's help and the Aztec's own religious beliefs.

When Cortes first landed on the Mexican coast he was quick to win over the locals and get the aid of Dona Maria, a native woman that served him in the crucial role of interpreter and later on as his mistress. Through Maria's efforts he was able to persuade these locals to become his allies and it was through them that he learnt of the Aztec Empire and the fable gold and riches that would later serve as the impetus behind the Spanish conquest of Mexico. It just so happened that his allies where the Tlaxcalns who were the bitter enemies of the Aztecs and they were more than willing to wage war on the Aztecs. Cortes was able to fight his way to the capitol of Tenochtitlan by careful manipulation of old grievances that the conquered tribes of the Aztec empire had long held against their overlords.

One of the other things that gave the Spanish the edge during their march to the...

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...fall of the Nahua and Inca empires an encounter of the Spanish, the meeting of the two cultures was a conquest because the Spanish brutally defeated and took over the indigenous cultures with the help of many advantages. There are three major factors which contributed to the successful conquest between the Spanish and the Nahuas, also known as the Aztecs, and Incas. First, the Spanish leaders had experience in forming alliances with indigenous people. Second, the Spanish had superior weaponry and military advantage, like steel, horses, and guns which made their weapons stronger and much more deadly. Third, the Spanish were physically capable of interacting with the indigenous people without suffering from unknown diseases, unlike the Nahuas and Incas who suffered from many diseases introduced by the Spanish.
In the conquest of Mexico, one of the leading factors that led to the success of the Spanishconquest was the experienced Spanish leader, Hernan Cortés. Luckily for the Spanish, Cortés had previous experience with making indigenous allies for fifteen years in Central and South America and Panama[1]. By making allies with surrounding rival cities, such as Totonacs, Cholulas, and Tlaxcalans, Hernan Cortés was able to overthrow the Nahua empire. Although some of...

...﻿Columbus
The first European man who laid foot on Mexico was Christopher Columbus. On his last expedition after discovering America in 1492 he sailed to Panama, Honduras and Mexico, without really going into the mainland.
Hernan Cortes and the conquest of Mexico
Cortez arrived 12 years later in Cuba, which was held by the Spanish governor Velazquez. As Cortez proved to be a good leader, he was sent to explore the mainland in Mexico.
Sailing with a fleet of 500 men, he first touched land on the Yucatan Peninsula. There he rescued Geronimo de Aguilar, a shipwrecked Spaniard who had lived among the Mayas for many years, and could serve as a translator. Shortly thereafter, he acquired an even more valuable asset. Making alliances with indigenous he was presented a woman, called Malinche. She spoke Aztecs language and became an invaluable translator and advisor to Cortez. Between Aguilar and Malinche, Cortez now had a way to communicate with most of the tribes he encountered.
Cortez eventually settled on Veracruz a base of operations. The Aztecs were always aware of the presence of the Spaniards and sent an envoy requesting that they do not approach Tenochtitlan, the today Mexico City. They didn’t really know what to expect of the new invaders. At this point, in order to discourage retreat, Cortez burned all his boats. His men would either conquer or die.
On the way...

...sixteenth century, as the Spanish conquistadors prepared themselves to drop anchor amid the shores of the "New World," a myriad different circumstances were beginning to unfold that would allow this small group of ambitious conquistadors to not only discover, but conquer the two main civilizations in the area. While no one main reason can be cited as the cause for the tremendous Spanish victory, several small factors combined to formulate this monstrous conquest. Disease, military technology, religious belief, and internal warfare served as a few of these very factors that allowed a few groups of only a hundred or so Spanish soldiers to massacre the Aztecs and the Incas, who's populations numbered in the millions.
Possibly the most important reason behind the Spanish's facility in conquering the New World was the ignorance and the welcoming nature of the native people. The Spanish were seen as god-like visitors at the time of their initial arrival, especially in the case of Hernan Cortés and the conquest of Mexico. Regardless of whether or not Cortés was believed to be the returned Aztec god Quetzalcoatl, the Spanish were still looked upon with great respect and dignity for their advanced ways of life. The Aztecs made offerings to the Spanish and welcomed them into their city, which Cortés used in order to map-out his...

...Conquest of Mexico
In 1519 Hernán Cortés led a couple hundred other Spaniards inland to the impressive Empire of the Mexica ruled by the Great Montezuma. Many historians today tell how quickly and almost effortlessly these Spaniards conquered the Empire. They paint an image of ignorant, helpless Indians practically giving up their land out of fear of this group because certainly the Spaniards must be gods since they have powerful weapons and strange animals. We know neither Cortés nor any of his men were gods, of course, but what was it that allowed Cortés to prevail over the inhabitants of the land?
The First Expeditions
To begin, in 1517 Francisco Hernández de Córdova, Bernal Díaz del Castillo, and some other gentlemen embarked on a journey to explore new lands in hopes of seeking employment since they had yet to find it in their new home of Cuba. In need of additional provisions, the governor of Cuba, Diego Velásquez, loaned the group supplies and a boat with the agreement that they return with Indians to be used as slaves.
At Cape Catoche of the Yucatan Peninsula, Córdova's men first encountered a group of Indians who at first appeared friendly and welcoming only to draw those who disembarked along the road to their village where they then ambushed the explorers. In that battle, fifty soldiers died and the captain and the remaining men all suffered many wounds. The explorers continued to...

...SpanishConquest
The story of the Spanishconquest over the native peoples of the Americas began in 1492, the Spaniards came from Europe to the Americas in hope of gaining wealth and increasing their social status. The Spaniards who were in the Americas were supposed to be spreading the word of Christianity, but often found the lure of gold and money from encomiendas, but also this conquest effected the Aztec and the Inca Empires.
The Aztecs, part of modern day Mexico, were once the epitome of fine culture. They began their rule of southern and central Mexico during the 14th century and practiced an incredibly wealthy lifestyle. They had powerful families married their children together so that could form alliance with one another in their important cities. Nonetheless, this rule began to deteriorate when Spanish explorers disembarked at Tabasco and Vera Cruz on April 21st 1519. When the Spanish voyagers first arrived, they were welcomed warmly, respectfully and received Godlike treatment. Montezuma, the ruler at that time, believed that the Spanish military leader, Hernán Cortés, was the great god Quetzalcoatl. The Spanish took advantage of this Aztec belief they entered the “Royal House” put Moctezuma under there watch and he was unable to depart and they conquered Mexico within two years. By...

...The Aztec Account of the SpanishConquest of Mexico
Miguel León-Portilla's book "The Broken Spears"
Introduction
Other resources:
• Aztec Life
• Mexica Culture
• Mexica Medicine
• Religion of the Modern Aztlan Movement
• Religion of the Mexica & Bibliography
• Major Deitites of the Mexica
• Minor Deitites of the Mexica
• Aztec Cannibalism: An Ecological Necessity?
Path of the Conquest
On November 8, 1519, the Spanish conquistadors first entered the great city of Mexico, the metropolis the Aztecs had built on a lake island. Don Hernando Cortes, who was accompanied by six hundred Spaniards and a great many native allies, at last could see for himself the temples and palaces about which he had heard so many marvels. The Spaniards arrived from the direction of Tlalpan, to the south of the city, passing across one of the wide causeways that connected the island with the mainland. When they reached a locality known as Xoloco, they were welcomed by the last of the Motecuhzomas, who had come out to meet them in the belief that the white men must be Quetzalcoatll and other gods, returning at last from across the waters now known as the Gulf of Mexico. Thus Cortes and his men entered the city, not only as guests, but also as gods coming home. It was the first direct encounter between one of the most extraordinary pre-Columbian cultures and the strangers who...

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Discuss the extent to which diseases brought by the Europeans played a role in the SpanishConquest of Mexico and Peru.
Before 1942 there was about 50 million Native Americans in Mexico and Peru within 100 years such Native American population decline as much as 90% (45 million). This was mainly as a result of the diseases brought by the Europeans and the diseases that had existed then. Therefore, the natives believed that their God’s had deserted them. However, there were other factors which played a role in the Conquest of Peru and Mexico such as indecisiveness of leaders, alliances, strategies by the conquerors and superior weapons.
The Spaniards were no longer interested in small islands so more exploration occurred to neighbouring territories. Hernando Cortez and Francisco Pizarro sought for the conquest of Mexico and Peru respectively. Both Cortez and Pizarro to discourage retreat or treachery, was to order all their boats burned. Their men would either conquer or perish. Hernando Cortez, acting essentially on his own, with an army of only about 500 men, few weapons and 16 horses. Cortez was unquestionably brutal and merciless at times, but on the whole, he was an exceedingly skilled tactician and a charismatic leader of men. Moctezuma was the Aztec ruler at the time when Cortez reached Tenochtitlan. The wary Moctezuma made great efforts to play the...

...Causing 2
Many different factors ultimately led to the Spanishconquest of the Aztec Empire. Many of the factors could be considered luck and it can be mind boggling how the Spanish took on the largest empire of the day with only a handful of soldiers and weapons. The reasons the Spanish were able to control and systematically destroy the Aztecs was because of their alliances with neighboring cultures, their advanced weapons, their domesticated animals, disease, and the luckiest part of all: the Aztecs referred to the Europeans as gods.
The Aztec and Tlaxcala had been continuously fighting for more than a century in the flower wars. The Tlaxcala resented the Aztecs and knew that eventually the Aztecs would conquer their main city. Already the Aztecs had been conquering much of the territory surrounding Tlaxcala. When the Spanish entered Tlaxcala the city was poor as a result of the commercial blockade of the Aztec. Cortes seems to have won the friendship of old Tlaxcala leaders namely, Maxixcatzin and Xícotencatl the elder. However, not all the Tlaxcala approved of this friendship with the Spaniards namely Xicotencatl the younger. Cortes reportedly preached Christianity to the Tlaxcala leaders and they were baptised and "Maxixcatzin, Xicotecatl the old, Citalpopocatzin and Temiloltecutl received the names of Don Lorenzo, Don Vicente, Don Bartolomé and Don Gonzalo." The Tlaxcala reportedly had no...